Operation Adobo #7 2017—Trip Report A Week In Manila During March 2017 Compiled by - Brad Peadon Philippine Railway Historical Society March 2017 Hello, welcome to the March 2017 trip report compiled by Brad Peadon. The report is aimed at friends, family and transport fans alike, so not all sections may be of interest to the reader. But you get that. Please email us with any corrections/additions to the transport related information contained within. [email protected] Regards Virls Compiling of this list would not be possible without the help of Aris M. Soriente, operators of the MRT, LRT and various members of the Philippine Railway Historical Society. We thank all for their continued help in researching the current status and history of the various Philippine railways. © Information contained in this website and page may be used for research and publishing purposes provided acknowledgement is given to the author and the ‘Philippine Railway Historical Society’ . We take copyrite infringement seriously, even if you don’t. For further details please feel free to email us at [email protected] Operation Adobo #7 It had been a six year break since I last boarded an airline, a term used loosely for Cebu Pacific, for the journey north to the Philippines. This represents the largest gap since I first visited in 1999. The reasons for this are varied, however mostly it was a combination of self-employment and disenchantment brought on by a number of people both in Manila and Sydney. It is remarkable how damaging negative and hateful people can be. My time was limited, just eight days were to be had. However I was able to squeeze in a couple of weeks’ worth of activity, mostly at the expense of any sleep. This report concentrates mostly on the transport hobby portions of the trip, this being what most readers will be looking for. However, other events will be touched upon for personal reference in the future. Sunday March 5 th , 2017 I am not terrific when it comes to plane travel. Like trains, I love to photograph and learn about them, but don’t care much for travelling. Not being the worlds most relaxed person means that dealing with airport peo- ple, and the flight itself, is somewhat of a trial I would rather avoid. However options are limited, swimming would take weeks and a ship not much better. Our craft for the day was Airbus A330-343, RP-C3343, delivered new to Cebu Pacific back in January 2014. The seats are none too comfortable, being narrower than flag carrier ‘Philippine Airlines (PAL)’ and made out of something very close to concrete. In fact, I am told that Cebu Pacific is renowned for having the most seats packed into an A330 of any airline in the world. They are indeed cheap, a fact that becomes more and more obvious with each passing, painful, hour. Besides the toilet, not other service comes free on Cebu, however I must say that the food and drinks were not as badly priced as you may expect. The lack of spirits was a big disappointment though. Being a nervous plane traveller, a few good rums do help with the journey. To be honest, unless the ‘Philippine Airlines’ flight is $300+ more, or you’re extremely kuriput (tight-arse), then I would recommend flying with the true flag carrier. Though the PAL A340 is some 14 years older, they still offer a superior service. Actually, on the subject of PAL, about 30 minutes before we boarded, I photographed their A330-313, RP- C3435, departing. An interesting comparison with our craft is that it is 17 years old. On arrival at ‘Manila International Airport’ (Ninoy Aquino International Airport, if you acknowledge that name), we were transferred to the Go Hotel in Mandaluyong. Like ‘Cebu Pacific’, with whom they seem to be involved, you get what you pay for. The very basic things you can expect in a hotel were what you can expect here. Sadly not even a bar fridge, while eating/drinking in your room is apparently prohibited (a ruling that I suspect is largely ignored). They provide food and beverage vending machines on one floor, but there was never a time that all three units were functional. On the plus side, my wife’s request for a view over the MRT was granted and, I have to say, I have never had a better view in all my trips there. It was heaven for the rail and bus fan. Every night, well the ones that I was actually there, was spent sipping on Mr Tan’s quality beverages and watching the passing parade. Monday March 6 th , 2017 Not much sleep was to be had that evening (or any others). Wanted to get into it and the city was still in dark- ness as I awoke and headed down to the convenience store on ground level. Before headed to Mega Mall, notes were taken of operational MRT sets passing our hotel. 024 025 020 032 041 038 054 013 045 060 015 033 011 049 040 065 056 062 034 050 044 001 053 010 042 019 023 043 048 016 052 017 055 036 035 007 033 015 060 The rest of the day was spent having breakfast at Jollibee (Boni station), Mega Mall and surprising the in laws out at Payatas A. Tuesday March 7 th , 2017 (20 th Wedding Anniversary) Up early and down to my newly found location on level two of the Go Hotel. Much recommended for MRT and bus fans, over 100 shots possible within each hour. Below are the MRT sets noted during the morning. It will be noted that a number had been swapped around since the previous day. 009 037 006 054 013 042 057 029 018 052 017 060 030 026 028 036 035 007 Caught MRT from Boni station to Quezon Avenue, fol- lowed by a jeepney to Evers Commonwealth Mall. Celebrated our 20 th wedding anniversary in Payatas A with my Filipino family and friends. A terrific opportunity to see friends of many years, and a number of more recent ones discovered on Facebook. Regretfully, as is often the case, the evening ended far to soon and again we were back negotiating Manila roads, weaving our way back to the Go Hotel. Wednesday March 8 th , 2017 Today was more the tourist type day, visiting the zoo and ‘Mall Of Asia’ MRT (#042) Boni Station to EDSA. Time was spent photographing at TAFT station on the LRT1. The following were noted during this time: 1G: 1009, 1021, 1025, 1036, 1040, 1042, 1046, 1048, 1055, 1056, 1057, 1058, 1061, 1063 2G: 1112, 1115 3G: 1213, 1216, 1225, 1229 Note: 1213 in SMART green livery. Phone Company. 1229 in DAZZ red livery. Dishwashing liquid. From below TAFT station we caught a jeepney to Pedro Gill station (a long, slow, journey that could have been done by the LRT1 in a fraction of the time). Here we changed to a taxi for the infamous Manila Zoo. While the zoo has a very bad name with animal groups, and in many ways was quite depressing, it was the highlight of Tin Tin’s trip. From here, it was off by taxi to Mall of Asia (MOA) for lunch at the phenomenal Vikings Buffet, a visit to the offices of the ghastly SMDC (development company) and an afternoon around the mall. At MOA, I came across a UBE Express Mercedes bus preparing to depart for the airport. UBE Express, an acronym for ‘Ultimate Bus Experience’, and with logos the same colour purple as the local food UBE, operate five premium bus routes out of Manila Airport to: * MOA – Esplanade Seaside Terminal * Atrium Hotel – JAM Liner * Victory Liner - Kabayan Hotel * Shangri La - Crowne Recency (Makati Route) * Robinsons Manila Bookings: booking.ubeexpress.com From MOA, we opted for a taxi back to Taft and the MRT (#16) from there to Boni again. Midnight saw us partake in an adventurous street food diner in the market behind our hotel. Well priced and very delicious, as street food normally is. MRT sets noted during the course of this day were: 044 035 032 072 059 007 028 014 037 054 013 060 068 026 006 062 056 005 045 071 040 038 041 057 066 002 051 054 015 060 Thursday March 9 th , 2017 Day spent around Robinsons Pioneer and Mega Malls. Checked out some more pathetic looking SMDC condo displays at Mega Mall and Tin Tin has a go at ice skating. MEGAWORLD: At this point I feel I should recommend this company to anyone considering a condo in Manila. Especially if the condo you are considering is from SMDC. A far more progressive company, with less constraining rules and a FAR better product. Evening was spent meeting local transportation fan James Mangun. A very interesting guy, hailing from Amer- ica, but now living in the Philippines and highly involved with the transport industry there. You could probably say he is living the life that I would love. An evening of great Philippine transport conversation, followed by dinner in the street food market behind the hotel. As always, it came to an end to soon and another day was over. Friday March 10 th , 2017 Finally, the planned railway day had arrived. Actually it arrived two hours earlier than planned, with the relos arriving at the hotel around 4am, some two hours earlier than planned. J Following 90 minutes of trying to wake up, it was time to brave the morning Manila traffic as we sought out Pasay Road station, an important point on the metro system of the ‘Philippine National Railways’.